The journey from Hong Kong to Las Vegas was a long and bittersweet transition from the comfortable existence I had come to known in Hong Kong to the uncertain and mysterious life waiting for me in Sin City. In some ways, life in LV began in much the same way that life in HK had begun...learning to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. For those of you that don't know me that well, it might be helpful to know that I despise change of any kind. Once I get comfortable in a place or situation, I will only give up that familiarity with brute force or with the fear of losing my freedom. I find not having freedom and independence more distasteful than change and it was for this reason that I learned to drive...for the third time in my life.
Since we sold our house, cars and anything with a plug before we moved to HK, the first thing we needed to do when we got to Vegas was buy a car, well, two cars actually but I'll try to stay focused. I wanted a Lexus like we had in HK but Iain was disgruntled with the fact that they don't come with a built-in aux so we looked to the fail safe brand that I was raised on...Nissan. My father would be so proud that we are a two Nissan family just like he'd always hoped. As Dave Ramsey recommends, we got a three-year-old car with low miles that has been really well taken care of and rides like a dream. It's a Nissan Murano LE. We chose the champagne color cause it matches my hair and skin tone and according to Benny the curtain guy in HK, that color looks "rich." Benny is a funny guy.
Anyway, I didn't actually have to drive for a couple of weeks because Iain had some time off before he started working in the LV office and I really appreciated it, too. Once again, it felt really strange riding on the other side of the car. When the time came for Iain to head to work, I felt queasy and hot and I got the back sweats just thinking about driving the kids to camp by myself on different roads in a different city in a different car on the opposite side of the car. I had to do it, though. The kids were counting on me and I really needed some ME time so I sucked it up and I drove them, very slowly like a new dad bringing his new baby home from the hospital.
I made it there and back and every day it got easier. Pretty soon I found myself driving very aggressively like the Hong Kongers but I had to reign myself in because when I saw other women like me pulled over for speeding or whatever I realized that the LVPD won't ignore me like the HKPD did. I'm not a gweilo in the US. I'm just a mom who shuttles her kids from one place to another and occasionally shops at Target, HomeGoods, Smith's and Gymboree. Even though I am nowhere near Alabama or my family I love love love being back home in the USA but I think of Hong Kong fondly and actually miss some aspects of it. I miss my friends, I miss the incredible view of the South China Sea from my 15th floor apartment, I miss Lan Kwai Fong and I definitely miss Ebeneezer's Kebabs.
But I think that life in Las Vegas is gonna be pretty good. Iain loves his job, the kids love their school and we all love this house with a pool in the back yard. We've got some great neighbors (one of them is a dentist which is helpful) and we have tons of convenient shopping within walking distance if we ever feel like trekking in this heat. We even have beautiful mountain views all around us which most people don't expect to see in LV.
I've moved around a lot, more than I ever dreamed I would, and it's taken me far from Alabama. I haven't forgotten who I am or where I came from and I am trying to raise my children to have a good southern way about them which to me is the most important thing I can do for them. God won't even let me forget where I came from because every time the sun sets over Red Rock Canyon, the desert sand kicks up a bright orange glow into the brilliant blue sky and we can almost see an AU starting to form in the distance. It's proof that God loves me, Alabama and the Auburn Tigers and no matter where I am in the world, I know Alabama will always be there and that's what comforts me through all of this change.
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